Britain faces additional snow, ice, and heavy rain this weekend after Storm Goretti’s hurricane-force winds precipitated chaos

Britain faces further snow, ice and heavy rain this weekend after Storm Goretti‘s hurricane-force winds caused chaos.

After severe conditions caused school closures and travel disruption on Friday, yellow warnings for snow and ice continue until Sunday and the Met Office warned Saturday morning will see a ‘very cold start’ with icy conditions for many. 

Forecasters said the combination of melting snow and rain could bring floods for some parts of the UK in the coming days, with the Environment Agency issuing 107 alerts and 14 warnings in England on Friday.

Rail services across England, Wales and Scotland face more disruption until Sunday, National Rail said, as the country continues to feel the effects of the storm’s wild weather.

A yellow warning covering large parts of Scotland, the East and West Midlands, north-east and north-west England and Yorkshire will be in place from 2am until 3pm on Sunday.

Yellow weather warnings for snow and ice have been extended into Saturday for large parts of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.

A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place until 3pm on Saturday, with further snowfall possible across parts of northern England and much of Scotland, while a widespread risk of ice is expected to cause disruption.

A separate yellow warning for ice covers large parts of England and Wales until midday on Saturday as partially thawed snow refreezes, accompanied by wintry showers and freezing fog.

A yellow warning for snow and ice will be in force for much of Scotland from 2am until 3pm on Sunday. 

In Northern Ireland, a yellow warning for snow and ice will run until 11am on Saturday, with the Met Office warning of icy patches and some hill snow.

Meanwhile the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended its amber cold weather health alerts for all of England until Monday, warning of a ‘rise in deaths’. 

The wild weather brought 99mph winds overnight while a rare red warning was issued by the Met Office for ‘dangerous’ winds in South West England yesterday. 

Airports across the country, including Heathrow, suffered cancelled and delayed flights on Friday, while dozens of schools shut their doors. 

About 37,000 properties in the South West remained without power on Friday evening, according to the National Grid’s website.

A further 3,000 homes in the West Midlands, 1,000 in the East Midlands, and about 240 in Wales were also off the grid following the inclement conditions which hit Britain this week.

The storm brought winds of almost 100mph after forecasters issued a rare red warning for ‘dangerous, stormy’ winds in the South West.

Residents on a tidal island near Cornwall woke to more than 80 trees brought down by Storm Goretti.

The head gardener of St Michael’s Mount, Darren Little, said he was heartbroken on Friday morning, with damage 10 times worse than any other storm impact in the decades he has lived there.

The island’s weather station recorded winds of 111mph on Thursday evening before a power cut took hold which lasted until Friday morning, Mr Little said.

He added: ‘It’s more devastating for us as a gardener seeing the hard work you’ve done over many years, then everything’s wiped out within about six hours.’

Downing Street said support was being offered to homes left without power.

Birmingham and East Midlands airports both had to suspend operations due to the heavy snow, while all trains in Cornwall and many others in the North were axed.

The sky turned pink in areas of Birmingham this morning following the ‘weather bomb’, after the central pressure in the area of low pressure fell rapidly yesterday.

Roads were also closed due to fallen trees following a week of severe conditions that has seen villages in Scotland cut off and temperatures falling to nearly -15C.

People in Cornwall were urged to work from home this morning, with the council advising residents to avoid travelling due to the large number of closed roads.

The Met Office said Storm Goretti brought a peak gust of 99mph to St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly, which was the highest recorded there since 1991.

The highest accumulation of snow in Wales was 15cm (6in) at Lake Vyrnwy in Powys; while England had 7cm (3in) at both Nottingham and Preston Montford in Shropshire.

Wider accumulations have been recorded, as well as higher unofficial totals from non-Met Office observations. In Scotland, 27cm (11in) fell at Altnaharra in Sutherland, 26cm (10in) at Loch Glascarnoch and 22cm (8.7in) at Durris in Kincardineshire.

The lowest UK temperature recorded overnight was -13.3C (8.1F) at Braemar in Aberdeenshire.

The Government has been urged to convene a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee in the wake of Storm Goretti.

Gideon Amos, Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington in Somerset, said: ‘The Government’s Cobra committee must urgently be convened to ensure fast help is delivered across the region.

‘The South West is routinely overlooked by the Government, but we cannot be ignored in this time of need.’

Steve Willington, Met Office chief forecaster, said more snow is possible on Sunday after a ‘largely dry’ Saturday away from north-eastern parts of Scotland and England.

He said: ‘A further 2-5cm of snow is possible to accumulate at low levels within the warning area on Sunday, with 10-20cm possible over higher ground. With much of this falling in areas that have already seen severe snowfall, ongoing disruption is likely.

‘Those in central and southern England and Wales will see this fall as rain, in what will be a wet Sunday for many.’

At least 69 flights scheduled to or from Heathrow Airport were cancelled on Friday, disrupting more than 9,000 passengers.

The majority of the cancellations were short-haul flights by British Airways.

In a statement issued just after 6am, East Midlands Airport said its runway had reopened after being closed overnight due to heavy snow on the runway.

Birmingham Airport said at 7.15am that its runway had reopened on a ‘reduced basis’ and teams were working to get passengers moving as efficiently as possible.

The storm, named by French weather forecaster Meteo France, was described as a ‘multi-hazard event’ by the Met Office.

Elsewhere, several shipping containers fell from two vessels off the Isle of Wight overnight, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

A number of refrigerated containers were reported falling into the sea from a cargo ship near Nab Tower at 11.10pm on Thursday and seven empty containers fell from the second ship which was 16 nautical miles south of St Catherine’s Point, Isle of Wight, at 11.55pm.

In Penzance, the stadium of the Cornish Pirates rugby club was damaged, with the roof on the main grandstand at Mennaye Field having large chunks torn off it by the wind.

Dozens of schools across the Midlands and Wales were closed on Friday where the amber weather warning was issued.

More than 250 schools were expected to remain closed in Scotland, including more than 150 in Aberdeenshire, dozens in the Highlands and Aberdeen, plus a number in Moray.

Disruption on the roads also affected the criminal justice system on Friday, with no remand prisoners being transported to Birmingham Crown Court.